But while Hartford-based Travelers is an old-line insurance and investment colossus with a history tightly woven in the tradition of America's insurance industry, Primerica is a late bloomer and its roots are in the manufacture of cans.

In recent years, while Travelers has struggled to put its insurance business and real estate investments on stronger footing, Primerica has been noted for its solid revenue and profit gains.

Primerica's emergence in recent years has been under the watchful eye of Sanford I. Weill, chairman and chief executive officer.

Weill, 59, a cigar-chomping deal-maker, had a reputation by the early 1980s for rebuilding a number of troubled Wall Street brokerages. One of his notable projects was Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc., which he sold to American Express Co. for $930 million in June 1981.

The New York City native joined American Express and was president of the financial services company until he quit in 1985 to pursue new deals.

He tried and failed to get control of BankAmerica Corp. in California in early 1986, and had to settle for a smaller property -- Commercial Credit Corp., a Baltimore-based consumer finance company.

Commercial Credit turned out to be more than a consolation prize. He used it as a platform to build a huge financial services company. And a troubled Greenwich-based corporation, which had earned its reputation making cans, was his next target.

Primerica started its life as American Can Co., maker of glass and metal containers. In 1982, as companies throughout the country were diversifying, American Can's chief executive, Gerald Tsai Jr.,

led it into the world of financial services.

Tsai, who had earned his reputation in the 1960s as a successful stock trader, set upon transforming the manufacturer into a "financial service supermarket" by acquiring mutual funds, insurance and mortgage banking companies. He even acquired a specialty retailing firm. The company sold off its container business in 1986 and changed its name to Primerica.

In the summer of 1987, Primerica made its boldest acquisition, paying more than $750 million to buy the brokerage firm of Smith Barney.

In 1988, Tsai and Primerica turned to Weill for help. Commercial Credit paid more than $1.6 billion for the company and assumed Primerica's name. Weill owns about 1 percent of Primerica's stock.

Under Weill, who succeeded Tsai as chairman and chief executive, Primerica's financial picture has improved steadily.

The 1988 merger tripled Primerica's assets from about $5 billion to about $15 billion. Primerica now has about $24 billion in assets.

Revenues, which were about $1 billion annually in 1987 and 1988, rocketed to just over $5.5 billion in 1989. In 1990, revenues were $6.2 billion, and in 1991, $6.6 billion.

Since 1986, the company's revenues have grown an average of 54 percent a year.

The company earned $478.8 million in 1991, up from $372.9 million in 1990. Profits have averaged a 70 percent growth rate since 1986.

James Dimon, president and chief financial officer, said recently that Primerica "hoped" to meet analysts' estimates for 1992 earnings of $5 a share. The company earned $4.72 a share in 1991.

Through the first six months of 1992, the company has earned $3.34 a share.

Primerica's assets ranked 19th on Fortune's 1992 list of the nation's 500 largest service companies. It ranked in the top 15 in profits, revenues and stockholder equity.

Long-term debt, which last year topped $4.3 billion, was down to about $4.2 billion as of June 30.

The New York City-based company consists of three units: Smith Barney, its investment services division; Commercial Credit Co., a consumer-finance services unit; and Primerica Financial Services, its insurance services unit.

Primerica is involved in property-casualty insurance through its Gulf Insurance Group, based in Dallas. Gulf's strong management and capital base earned an A+ rating for 1992 from A.M. Best, the insurance rating service.

Several attempts by Weill to merge Smith Barney with another Wall Street investment services firm have proved fruitless. Last May, talks fell apart with General Electric Co. about a deal involving GE's Kidder Peabody unit.

Primerica officials recently told analysts at a Smith Barney conference that one of the company's goals is to raise its credit rating by improving operations and paring debt